Better than reality
by Baguette Me Not
Summary: Adrien Agreste's life was perfect. In fact he would describe it as too good to be true. Hmm… perhaps it was…?
1. Chapter 1

Morning sunlight streamed through his windowpanes, its warm glow tickling his features. Adrien blinked, startled to be awoken by the sun. As of late, the weather had been rather dreary and cloudy so the fact that the weather had done a 180 was a pleasant surprise.

He let out a yawn, stretching his arms as he pulled back the bedsheets and hopped out of his bed. He gave off a soft thud as his feet impacted with the carpet.

… Wait, no.

It wasn't _his_ bed at all.

Actually, this wasn't even his room.

Instead of an oversized bedroom, with windows stretching out to the height of a bungalow, it was reasonably small. A decent size. Cerulean blue walls stretched out in front of him, plastered with posters of Jagged Stone and images of him and his friends in which he had never remembered being taken. Built into the right of his wall were two windows, where two sets of translucent curtains hung drawn back. A small wooden desk was placed in front of them, allowing him to look on at the view whilst he sat at it. Placed atop the desk was a computer, a pencil pot stuffed with all kinds of things - _and was that a photograph of Marinette?_

Befuddled and slightly panicked, the boy gave his eyes a rub. Perhaps he was still asleep?

But no.

The room remained the same.

Taking careful steps, he walked over to a wardrobe situated at the opposite end of the room to his bed. Adrien flung open the door with a soft creak to reveal all sorts of mismatched clothes. From a soft red tee to a black sweatshirt with neon green paw prints embroidered onto it… But no shirt with his usual striped pattern. Nor did he even own anything with a 'G' on it.

 _Odd_.

The blonde reached out a hesitant hand before picking up the sweatshirt along with a matching pair of jeans and top. Just as he finished slipping them on, he heard a woman's voice call out from downstairs making his blood run cold.

"Adrien sweetie, breakfast is ready!"

Now, it obviously wasn't her words that made him freeze. I mean, _how could receiving breakfast be a bad thing_? Nope, it was the woman who'd said them. He hadn't heard her voice for about two years, but it was unmistakable.

The boy didn't waste a single second as he swung open the door and thundered down a staircase two at a time towards where the woman's voice had come from.

He found himself in a kitchen, the smell of freshly prepared pancakes so sweet and overpowering that it could make anyone's stomach growl. However, Adrien's brain barely reregistered any this. He was only focused on the blonde lady stood in the centre of it all, her smile large and bright.

"Adrien! There you are, I was beginning to think you would never come downstairs," She let out a small chuckle. "How are you feeling about having pancakes this morning?" The woman then noticed Adrien's blank stare and her expression morphed into one showing slight concern.

"Ma Chéri? Is everything okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Well, she wasn't _wrong_.

Adrien rushed up towards her, enveloping her in a tight hug as if fearing if he let her go, she would disappear again. "Mum," His voice croaked.

"Adrien?" Emilie asked after a moments pause. "Have you had another bad dream again?"

He couldn't find it in himself to reply, far too shocked to even make a move. _It was her - this was her - she was home - oh mon Dieu!_

His Mum slowly slipped out of the hug, and shot him a small and encouraging smile. "Go ahead and tuck into your pancakes, okay? I'll be over in a minute and we can talk about it."

Adrien shook himself out of his state of shock and gave her a nod. "I… um think I would like that."

* * *

He sat himself at the table, where a small platter of pancakes awaited him. Eyes filled with pure delight, he began to tuck in to his breakfast savouring every single bite. It wasn't every day he got a breakfast like this.

A snort of laughter caused him to look up. A man - who he had surprisingly not noticed until now - was sat at the opposite end of the table to him, newspaper held firmly in his hands. His lips were upturned into a small smile. An expression that seemed quite foreign on his face… and yet not at the same time.

"Anyone would've thought you had never seen a pancake before, Adrien," He spoke jokingly to him, eyes still glued on the paper.

"Heh, they're just really good Father," At this Gabriel raised his brow questionably at Adrien, turning his attention towards him.

"Father? Don't you normally call me 'Dad', son?"

 _Oh right. He referred to him as Dad, didn't he?_

"Sorry Dad, I don't know what came over me. This morning's just been a little 'off'."

"Oh, I get it. One of those days then?"

Adrien gave a hum in response as he got back to cleaning his plate off. His fork gave a scraping sound as he cut off another piece of the pancake with it.

Once he'd finished, he lay his cutlery down and spoke up again. "Hey Dad? Do you know where Nathalie is? She would usually be here by now to tell me my schedule."

Gabriel sent him another funny look, confused by his son's crazy antics for the second time that morning. "Your schedule, Adrien? You don't have one. And who's Nathalie?"

There was a brief pause, as Adrien contemplated exactly what he'd meant by that. _Who was Nathalie again?_

"Oh, no one Dad. Never mind."

* * *

After brushing his teeth and collecting his school supplies, he rushed towards the door to leave, only to be stopped by his Mum.

"Adrien? Are you ready to talk about that bad dream?"

Adrien looked up at the woman with a soft grin. "To be honest, I can't really remember it."

Emilie placed a hand on his shoulder in reassurance. "Okay but remember, Adrien, that we're here for you."

"Don't worry Mum," He said, hauling his school bag over his shoulder. "I know that."

With that, Adrien waved goodbye to her and stepped outside into the warm, summer air.

* * *

The walk wasn't that long, only about ten minutes. Although, it may have taken less longer if he hadn't stopped every couple of minutes to admire his beautiful city and take some photos with his camera.

Ah yes, his camera. It had been a few months ago when his Fa- Dad had given him his old camera for his birthday. It wasn't new and fancy by no means, even so he treasured his gift immensely. It also allowed him to discover his passion for photography. According to his Dad, he was getting quite good at it too!

Finally, after the trip, Adrien reached school where his friends were waiting for him up front.

"Adrien, my dude! You'll never guess what Marinette brought in today," Nino, wrapped his arm around his best friend as he gestured to where the jet-black haired girl was stood, arms wrapped around box.

A box which had the Dupain-Cheng logo printed on the front.

Woah!

"Wow Princess!" He exclaimed, well aware at how she giggled at the nickname. "Are you spoiling us with some of your pastries today?"

"Yep, I was helping out with my parents in the bakery yesterday and they allowed me to bring in a few of the croissants that we made to share."

Adrien gasped, positively beaming. "Croissants? And you made them yourself? You're incredible Marinette."

"Of course she is," Chimed in Alya. "This is my best friend we are talking about."

Marinette began handing out croissants to the group, their glorious smell drawing in the attention of passersby who were looking in on at them enviously. Many knew about the bakery just up the street, and could all agree that they sold the best pastries in Paris by far.

As the group finished munching on the pastries, a bell rang out, signalling all of the students to head inside for lessons.

Ah, today was going just perfect.

Nevertheless, as he walked inside, Adrien still couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

* * *

 **AN: Should probably be updating my ongoing fics instead of starting a new one… Oh well.** ✧


	2. Chapter 2

The first few lessons came and went, passing seemingly in a blur. Before he knew it, the bell for lunch had rung, interrupting Ms. Mendeleiev's very long lecture on the history of the atom.

"Alright class," The woman called out, attempting to be heard over the din as the students packed up to leave. "We'll finish this off tomorrow. And remember to bring in your homework too."

Adrien followed the flow of people out of the door, only to be gripped by a firm hand. Said hand hauled him out of the door and into a quiet corner of the hallway.

"Hey! What do you think you're…" He trailed off as he looked at his supposed 'kidnapper', expression morphing from irritated to shock. "Chloe?"

Sure enough, it was the queen bee herself, face smug and her hands upon her hips.

"Don't look so surprised Adrien, I'm not trying to kidnap you or anything," She gave her eyes a roll. "I'm here to help you with your little 'Marinette' problem."

 _His what?_

He opened his mouth in reply, only to be cut out when Chloe began talking again. "You see, the school's holding a dance - which I suggested to be done _of course_ \- because we just finished all of our exams."

 _Okay…? Was she trying to make him go to this dance with her?_

"And although me and Marinette never see eye to eye, as your friend I want what's best for you. I can see how much that girl means to you so… so I'm willing to let this one slide. You two really need to stop dancing around each other and get it together. That's why I think this dance will be the perfect time to ask her out."

Adrien's face flushed red as he spluttered. "Wha-? No! Nope. I definitely don't have a crush on her. She's just a-"

"Friend?" Chloe finished, tone teasing. " _Puh-lease_ Adrien. She's all you talk about. Marinette this, Marinette that! I've even seen those smitten looks you give her! And that flirting you two do - 'Princess' and 'Kitten' aren't names friends give to each other. You are _not_ subtle."

Face still red, Adrien slouched his shoulders and sighed, accepting his defeat. "I guess you do have a point."

"Well duh!" The girl exclaimed, flicking out her ponytail. "I'm Chloe Bourgeois! I'm always right."

"Sure Chlo," He responded, tone dry.

Choosing to ignore him, Chloe gave him a small shove. "Now get over there and ask her, you two are really painful to watch."

Doing his best to ignore how his cheeks were somehow steadily increasing in heat yet again, Adrien wandered towards the nearest exit so he could go to his friends' usual lunch place.

"Umm, Adrien? Don't you usually eat over that way?" Chloe called, pointing to an exit further along the hallway.

Ah.

Oops.

* * *

"Ugh, Plagg!" Adrien moaned as he headed across the school grounds. "I can't just as her out like that, she-"

Adrien trailed off, realising that things were awfully quiet. "Plagg?"

The teen checked his pockets searching for any sign of him, only to come up empty. Where was he? Plagg needed to stay by his ring so he could transf-

Huh?

The boy froze in his tracks, trail of thought suddenly lost.

What had he been thinking of again?

He furrowed his brow in a desperate attempt to remind himself, but it worked to no avail. Hmm, oh well. Adrien shrugged off the thought as he noticed a bright, red capped boy up ahead.

Ah, Nino.

Maybe he could talk to him about what Chloe had said.

* * *

"Now there's our precious sunshine child," Alya remarked as Adrien reached the picnic table. "Care to join us in our discussion about my Majestia blog?"

The blonde shuffled awkwardly under Alya's gaze. He needed to talk to Nino. Alone.

"Actually, do you mind if I-?" He gestured at Nino.

"As long as you don't run off with my boyfriend and get married, it's fine," She said, causing the two boy's to nearly choke. She turned towards her best friend. "What about you Mari?"

"I don't mind at all," She beamed, an expression that lit up her face like a galaxy full of stars. "We'll still be over here when you guys get back."

* * *

"So, what's up?" The two had hurried to a nearby bench, way out of earshot from their female classmates. Nino slung his arm around the back of the iron bench, whilst Adrien fidgeted uncomfortably.

He was not looking forward to this conversation.

"Advice, Nino. I need advice."

The boy shot him a confused glance. "Advice? What kind are you talking about?"

Scratching the back of this neck quite awkwardly, Adrien drew in a deep breath. "So the thing is… I kind of need some, uh, I need some relationship advice. To help me ask out Marinette to the dance. You already have a girlfriend, so I thought that you might have an idea on what to say."

There was a short silence as Adrien winced, unsure of how his friend would react. Although he was dating Alya, he had previously had a crush on the pigtailed girl. And wasn't there a 'bro code' against wanting to date your best friend's ex-crush? Was this whole thing a bad idea? Was Nino going to react badly?

What he hadn't expected, however, was for him to burst out into laughter.

"Nino?" He inquired, unsure on what was so funny. Was his top on back to front?

The laughter died slowly, as Nino regained his posture. "Sorry - heh - Dude," He said between his chortling. "It's just that - pfft - with your expression and all, I kind of thought someone had died." His face softened slightly, and his gaze turned thoughtful. "I'm happy for you bro, it's about time you two got your act together." He placed his spare hand atop Adrien's shoulder.

The boy in question let out a deep breath in which he hadn't realised he had been holding up until now. Phew, _he wasn't mad._

"Nah, 'course not," He grinned.

Oh, he was speaking aloud still.

"Just to warn you, Alya was the one to ask me out in our relationship, _but_ ," He paused for emphasis. "that doesn't mean I don't know how to help you out."

"Thanks Nino, I owe you one. What do you think I should do?"

"Okay, so just imagine I'm Marinette for a moment," When Adrien nodded, Nino continued. "And you want to ask me out. So what are you going to say?"

Adrien bit his lip in thought, suddenly finding his shoes _very_ interesting. "I would possibly say something like 'Hey Marinette! I'm-"

He broke off momentarily distracted by a tiny, furry cat which happened to scamper past that very moment. Its golden bell collar let out a small tinkling sound, giving him an odd sense of-

What was it?

Deja vu?

"-Chat Noir?" It sounded like less of a statement and more of a question.

"Huh? Dude!" Nino eyed him with shock. "You can't just introduce yourself as a cat! What even-" But his words were lost to him, as Adrien's mind wandered.

 _Chat Noir._

 _Where had he heard that phrase before?_

The answer was on the tip of his tongue, and yet-

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Just like earlier.

The boy stood up briskly from the bench, face furrowed. Whatever this was, it was important. He couldn't just let it go. Nope, he needed answers. Pronto.

"Uh, where are you going?" Came his friend's voice from behind him.

"Home, I'm… not feeling well. Can you let Ms. Bustier know that I'm not going to be in next lesson," He asked turning his head back towards Nino as he spoke.

"Uh, okay? I hope you get better soon then," With that, he changed pace, breaking off into a run down the street, leaving his considerably baffled friend behind.

"Oh, and thanks for the advice Nino!" He called out as an afterthought.

"But we didn't even get anything done!"

* * *

"Adrien? What are you doing here?" His Mum nearly startled him as he closed the front door with a thud. She was giving him a stern expression, arms folded in a businesslike way. "You didn't skip school, did you? Your not normally like that." _Yeah, he enjoyed school. Spending time with his friends and all that. He hadn't always been able to go to public school, so he treasured-_

 _Umm._

 _He'd always been in public school, hadn't he?_

Shaking himself (once again) from his spur of thoughts, the boy turned his attention back to Emilie."Oh, I wasn't feeling well so they allowed me to come back home," _A little white lie shouldn't hurt, would it?_

The woman's attitude completely flipped over as she widened her eyes in concern. "Oh Chéri! Why didn't you say that before? Do you want to go upstairs and get some rest?"

"No Mum, I kind of want to talk to you…"

"Ah," His Mum lit up in realisation. "I see, I'll be in in a few moments. Would you like something to drink?"

He nodded vigorously in approval as he dashed into the living room.

Laying upon the couch, he took in the scenery, giving a contented sigh as he did so.

Oh, how much me loved this place. It was always so…

Homely.

* * *

"So, what's upsetting you?" Emilie asked, dropping onto the couch next to her son. She passed him a small glass filled to the brim with some sort of smoothie.

Taking it graciously and making sure he didn't spill any, Adrien responded to her question. "Well, today's just been a bit off? You know?"

"How so?"

"Things keep on slipping my mind, it just feels like I have this whole other life I've forgotten about."

"Is see…"

"There are just fragments. Like running across rooftops, a girl in red and…" He faced his Mother. "I think I'm a superhero, Mum," He said in all seriousness.

Emilie cracked a smile, obviously not taking him seriously in the slightest.

"Okay sweetheart, are you sure that these aren't dreams that you're making up?"

"No… at least, I don't think so?"

"Look at things this way: your life is perfect. Why would you want to change anything about this? About your family? About your home? Why would you want anything different?"

Adrien bit his lip, absorbing all of her words. It was true, his life was perfect. Well and truly perfect. There was not a single thing he would change about it… so why was he craving something else? Why give up all of the good things he had in life?

His eyes shot up in realisation as he slipped on a small grin directed at his Mum. "You're right, Mum. Life is pretty great," He let loose a small laugh. "I honestly don't know what I was thinking."


	3. Chapter 3

Ignoring his weird gut feeling, Adrien continued to enjoy the week whilst taking in the beauty of it all. It sped by in a flash of colour, making Adrien give a double take when he was faced with his calendar marking it to be Friday.

The day the the school dance.

And he still hadn't had the guts to ask out his crush.

He'd had so many windows of opportunities to ask her… but he just had to chicken out. Every. Single. TIME!

Perhaps it was because he feared rejection. Maybe she didn't like him that way? Maybe she was already was going with someone?

If she _did_ turn him down, it would unequivocally put a dampening on his cheery mood from that week.

But if she actually said yes…

Well, that would be beyond amazing.

It'd be perfect.

"I'm going to do this! I'm actually going to do this!" He turned out of his room and dashed out of his room, fierce determination burning in his eyes. _He was actually going to do it this time_.

* * *

"Okay Adrien, I know I say this everyday but… today you're just _radiating_ sunshine! What's got you in such a good mood?" The two were sat at their desk in their maths classroom, unpacking their bags of their pencil cases. Their teacher was yet to arrive so the class was still humming with chatter as its students were still all deep in conversation.

"Hmm?" The teen shot Nino a glance, a large grin upon his face. "Oh, it's because I've decided to finally ask her out Nino," His good mood faltered a notch. "I just hope she won't turn me down."

Nino only rolled his eyes. "Dudeee, you're - well - you! I mean you could be a model if you wanted to be! Of course Mari won't turn you down."

"Pfft please. A model? Seriously? I would rather not be. That would just be too tiring and not to mention boring… it's not really my thing," He pointed out, slipping a book from his bag onto the table. "Besides, I want her to like me for me. My personality."

"Adrien, that girl likes you. It's completely obvious. Trust me, she wouldn't hang out with you all of the time if she didn't."

"… Are you sure?"

He winked. "I'm sure of it bro."

Then just like that the boy's whole demeanour shifted, going from his previous uncertain attitude to one more smug. A face he adopted when he had thought of a clever line to say. "Good, I would hate her to give me a _negative_ response." Maths puns.

A groan erupted from his friend as he placed his head in his palms. "Dude, if you ask her out with a cheesy line like that, I can guarantee you that she's going to say no."

"But you just-"

"Nope. Just no."

* * *

As soon as their first lessons ended, Adrien breathed a long sigh of relief. How was it that his week sped by when he wanted to savour it, but it dragged when all he wanted to do was ask out his blue eyed friend?

"Hey Marinette, can I speak with you a moment?" He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, grabbing the girl's attention.

"Sure… what is it Adrien?"

The boy looked around to see if anyone would overhear them, however he was only met with an empty room. All of the other students had drained out. They were the last ones left.

"So, you know that there's a dance on later tonight?" _Hmm, that was an okay conversation starter, right?_

"Yeah, I heard about that from Alya… why do you ask?" She tucked a lose strand of her hair behind an ear.

"I…," Okay, so he was doing this then. Fingers crossed she didn't say no. "I wanted to know if you were going with anyone."

"Nope, no one," She blinked her eyes innocently at him. Perhaps too innocently? "Alya's going with Nino so I don't really want to tag along as a third wheel. What about you?"

 _Yes!_

 _Yes!_

 _No one had asked her yet!_

"Oh, me? No one either. What a coincidence! You think that we should-"

"-Go together?" She completed for him, earning a gasp. "If that's your way of asking me out Adrien, then yes. Absolutely. I would love to be your date for tonight."

 _Error: brain not found._

"Urm, Kitten? Are you okay?" She waved a hand in front of his face. "Oh Mon Dieu! Was I wrong?-Oh my-I'm sorry-I didn't mean to imply that!-Were you not asking me out?"

As Marinette began her trademark rambling, Adrien came to. "Oh, don't worry Marinette! I was actually asking you out," He chuckled lightly. "So I'll pick you up outside the bakery?"

"Sounds good. I can't wait!"

* * *

"WHAT WAS I EVEN THINKING!?" Adrien cried out as he adjusted his suit for the dance, having just finished working on his hair and trying to get it to the best he could possibly get it to. Marinette deserved the world, and he needed everything to be just _right_. "I can't just walk there! The place they are holding it is on the other side of the city! And you can't just turn up to a date without a ride!"

"And that is why I have a small surprise for you," Adrien whirled around in surprise, facing in the direction of the voice. In the doorframe stood his Dad, hand beckoning him to follow.

"Surprise? What kind of surprise?" He bounded after him through the rooms like a tiny, excitable puppy determined to know what was in store for him.

He was lead to the front of his family home and what he saw made his jaw nearly drop off its hinges.

"No way! Did you seriously get me this? Can I drive?!"

Gabriel chuckled lovingly at his son's antics before giving his head a swift shake. "I just rented this car for tonight and tonight _only_. And no Adrien, there's a chauffeur in there for you to do that. You're not even old enough to drive."

"Aww," He complained, although it hardly mattered. His Dad had rented out a pretty sweet ride just for him. There was no way that this wouldn't impress his date!

He swung open the door and hopped in, instantly noticing how comfortable the seats were. _He could sure get used to this._

"Where to monsieur?" A tall, dark haired man - presumably his chauffeur that his Dad had mentioned only a few mere moments ago - inquired.

"Have you ever heard of the Dupain-Cheng bakery?"

* * *

To say that Marinette was impressed was an understatement.

"Wow!" She exclaimed, tugging at his sleeves excitedly. "Your Dad hired this for you?"

He hummed, a wicked grin forming across his face. "Impressive right?"

"Yeah! I've never ridden a limo before! This is so great!" The girl practically squealed.

Adrien chuckled at her, bemused by his classmate's behaviour. He'd never get tired of it at all. Whatsoever. "You ready to get in?"

She nodded, turning to wave back at her parents who were standing together at their doorstep. "Bye Mama! Bye Papa!"

It was then that Adrien was able to fully take in the girl's attire. Dark hair tied up in a plait so that it ran down to her shoulder. She wore a long, shoulder-length, rose dress that hugged her form, up up until the bottom where it spread out into a skirt which would surely twirl if she spun fast enough. She'd even decided on applying make-up to her features, making them stand out even more. To put it simply, she was drop dead gorgeous.

Trying to hide the rush of blood to his cheeks, the boy ushered her along. "Come on, the chauffeur's waiting."

* * *

The party was wonderful. Flashing lights danced across the wooden floor of the hall, encasing everything in rainbow light. Plenty of students were up on the dance floor, twisting and twirling around each other as they preformed their moves to go along with the rhythm of the music. Those who weren't dancing where either sitting and chatting with friends or stuffing their faces at the buffet table. A certain two students were competing to see who could shove the most strawberry bonbons in their mouth at a time (*cough* Kim and Alix *cough*).

The duo met Nino and Alya at the DJ table where a certain someone was playing a ton of beats for everyone to dance to. Just as they had, the two had dressed up quite nicely for the occasion. Alya wore a knee-length sundress, with a pair of matching red heels and upon further examination, you could tell that she was wearing skin coloured tights. Nino was wearing a similar suit to Adrien's although (if he were being honest) he seemed slightly uncomfortable in at. Like normal, he still had his signature pair of headphones hung around his neck and his red cap placed firmly atop his head.

"Well if it isn't out two favourite lovebirds," Alya smirked as they neared, causing said lovebirds to flush simultaneously.

"Hey Alya, hey Nino," Marinette waved at them, pointedly trying to ignore the brunette's introduction.

"Hey Mari, are you two here to dance? There's plenty of room on the dance floor," She gestured to the space around them.

"What, no! I'm terrible!" Marinette protested, shooting her a glare. "You know I can't dance."

"I could teach you?" Adrien suggested, almost shyly. The raven haired girl's attention quickly switched back to him.

"I don't know about that Adrien… I'm really clumsy."

"Well I think that's a great idea," Alya grinned, nudging Nino in the arm. "Change the song to something these two can slow dance to, DJ."

"But Alya! We're in the middle of a song, one of my favourite ones, too," The boy groaned, clearly unhappy about being requested to put on another slow song. This was a dance! They were meant to be upbeat.

She tipped her head slightly in the direction of Marinette and Adrien. "For these two."

"Ooooh," He exclaimed, suddenly understanding what his girlfriend was getting at. "Sure thing guys," As he went to change the song, Adrien could've sworn he heard Nino mutter 'Oh the privileges of knowing the DJ'.

Adrien took Marinette's hand in his as he tugged her towards the dance floor. "Shall we Princess?"

She laughed momentarily before sobering up. "We shall."

They rushed off, although they stilled when they heard their friend call out.

"Well have fun you two!" Alya shouted out, raising a few heads. "I'll be sure to take a ton of photos for the school blog!"

 _Typical Alya._

* * *

"Just put your hands here and- yes. There we go, just like at Chloe's party," He smiled positioning his hands around her waist as the two started to sway. "You're really getting the hang of this."

She blushed a little, although it was difficult to pick up with the coloured lights passing over them.

"Thank you, I have no idea how I haven't stumbled yet," Just as she uttered this, her body jerked as she tripped up on Adrien's shoes.

"Sorry!" They cried out concurrently, surprising the other.

"Wow, we're really in sync, aren't we?" Marinette nodded in agreement with his statement, replying at once.

"Heh, guess we are."

The blonde reached out to steady her, instinctively bringing her in closer.

"A-Adrien?" The girl stuttered, sky blue eyes intently gazing up at him. Their faces drew a little closer, her peach lips barely just grazing his own.

"Marinette, I-" He broke off instantly as a couple knocked into them, muttering a small apology as they continued their dance.

However, the spell had been broken and the two teenagers had been left in an awkward silence. Adrien rubbed the back of his neck whilst Marinette furiously bit her lip - _Mon Dieu, why did she have to display her lips like that?!_

"Umm, do you want a snack?!" Marinette blurted out, attempting the burst the bubble of quietude.

"Yeah sure, I was starting to get a bit hungry anyway."

* * *

Nothing that eventful happened after that, Alya taking her photos, Chloe attempting to be a better person by giving people free hairdressing tips because 'if they were going to a school dance, they should at least bother to do their hair nicely'. The whole thing ran quite smoothly up until the finish where a few announcements were made.

"Rose and Juleka won the best couples award? I was sure that Adrinette would win that one," Pouted Alya, earning three eye-rolls.

"You know Alya, at times I feel like you are more invested in their relationship than you are with ours. Even when it was nonexistent," Nino mentioned matter-of-factly. "Anyway, I think that Rose and Juleka are a pretty cool couple. Very sickeningly sweet. It's nice that they have finally gotten together."

"I couldn't agree more," Adrien put in as he laced Marinette's fingers with his own.

* * *

Once the dance had finally come to a close, their ride picked them up and dropped the two off at the entrance to the Dupain-Cheng bakery before driving away into the depths of Paris, presumably back to the car hire.

Adrien watched it for a few moments before he turned back towards the girl who he was accompanying.

"Thanks for that Adrien. I had a wonderful time," She smiled up at him shyly, twiddling her twin pigtails. Quiet a cute nervous habit of hers Adrien liked.

"Yeah? That's good. I enjoyed spending time with you. It made this night pretty memorable."

She gave a hum in agreement, eyes darting over to the door of the bakery. "Well, I should get going then, huh?"

 _Wait what?!_

 _She was leaving already?_

"Wait!" He burst out, hand instinctively reaching to grab her wrist to stop her from leaving at that very moment. Her eyebrows went up in surprise, eyes fixed boldly to where he held her.

"Please don't go, Marinette. I-," He froze a moment, mind raking his brain for how to explain what he wanted to say. "I- there's something I kind of wanted to do back at the dance… but we didn't exactly get a chance to. You see, I kind of really like you and I thought that maybe, just maybe we could… you know? With our lips?"

As he finished his awkward rambling, he felt his cheeks flush slightly with a rose red hue.

"Kitten?"

"Hmm?" He gazed down at her, emerald irises interlocking with bluebell. He noticed how her face had shifted from her small smile to accommodate a rather smug one instead.

"You talk too much."

So with that, Marinette went ahead and made the night ever more memorable for them.

She sealed his lips with a heavenly sweet kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

Getting home had proved more difficult than he had initially thought.

You see, he'd allowed the chauffeur to drive off since he didn't really mind walking the remainder the the journey to his house. He and Marinette lived quite closets each other, after all.

However, he hadn't planned on her kissing him (which he certainly wasn't complaining about) and turning his legs to jelly. So what should have only been a five minute walk bordered around the lines of twenty instead.

Adrien couldn't find it in himself to care.

When he got back, he found his Dad still awake sitting in his study up late as he was still scrawling designs.

As Adrien strolled past the room, feeling lighter than air, Gabriel swivelled around on his seat to welcome his son home. Having said that, the words died in his throat as he noticed the blonde's state.

"Adrien? God son, what were they feeding you at that dance? Are you okay?"

Adrien drew out a blissful sigh as he stood at the foot of the stairs, fingers tracing the corner of his lips. "Perfect Dad," He turned towards the man, a stupidly lovesick expression upon his face. "Life's just _perfect_."

* * *

That was until it _wasn't._

Adrien sat at a table in the library, humming a little as he flicked through the book's pages. After being told he had a French presentation coming up, he had decided to 'hit the books' as they say, and do some extra research to help with it. Suffice to say, he was getting very little work done. What with the events that had unfolded the previous night.

"That's not going to be really effective," A voice came from behind him, unsettlingly cold. He put down his book to take a look at the newcomer, a tall, thin boy with blonde hair - a similar shade to his - and a pair of storm grey eyes. He wore a dark grey suit - just like the shade of his eyes - and it fit him pretty well. Maybe tailor made? And just by looking at him, Adrien could tell that he seemed to surpass his own age by two or three years.

"How so? Are you not much of a book fan?"

The boy gave him a disapproving look, as if he were already judging him. "No, I mean try looking at the words on the page."

"I _am_ ," Adrien shot back. _What was this guy's problem?!_

"No you're not. Look really closely. Just focus your eyes on the words," Deciding to do as the strange boy told (he looked like someone he honestly didn't want to mess with), Adrien focused his attention solely on the ink scrolled across the pages. At first nothing happened, the words appeared to be nor-

Woah.

Just as if he had Dyslexia, the words mixed across the page becoming complete and utter nonsense. But then again, hadn't they always been like that?

"Wha- I don't understand. Why are the words doing this?" Adrien shifted his gaze back to the other boy, face baffled.

Yet just as before, the stranger continued to be vague.

"Adrien," _How did he know his name? He'd never told it to him!_ "Deep down you know the answer to that, don't you."

Did he really?

Was it something to do with these strange memories he had been receiving lately?

His weird gut feeling of how something wasn't quite right?

His odd dreams he ignored?

How everything seemed just a _tad_ too perfect?

Although perhaps he'd known it all along, just refusing to acknowledge the truth because it was too unbearable. Things were just too beautiful here. He hadn't wanted to let it all go.

Reluctantly, he turned back to the boy, eyes dull. **"You can't read in a dream."**

The boy nodded at him, confirming his worst fears. "Exactly."

It was then that his perfect paradise turned to hell. Sirens began screaming as the police began their work (something which, now he thought about, they hadn't done in a few days. The crime rate had been far too low). However, they weren't out for criminals. They were out for him. Because now he knew. He knew the truth. The truth they had tried ever so hard to hide from him.

The stranger turned to him and uttered a simple word into his ear, his whisper echoing throughout his mind. "Run."

 _Well, he didn't need to be asked twice._

Body fuelled with adrenaline (or _Adrien_ aline), his legs carried him out of the building.

* * *

He whizzed down the street, nearly stumbling as he went. Adrien didn't even care about the weird looks people cast him as he raced. He just needed to get there. To get to Master Fu's. It was his only chance at getting out of this stupid dream! Fu could help. He knew what to do. Surely he would exist here?!

He doubled over, regaining his breath as he turned to look up at the building. To where Master Fu's was.

Correction: where it _should_ be.

Where once stood the Grand Master's home, was now only a pile of rubble. Flattened out as if the place had never existed.

No! No! No!

This just couldn't be happening.

Nu-uh.

This was just a dream. Some weird crazy dream-

 _Oh_. It was a dream.

 _…_ _Curse this weird logic._

Adrien leaned back against a wall and rubbed his temples, gathering his thoughts as he did so.

Master Fu's had been his plan. His _only_ plan. It was his ticket back!

But now it was gone, the building being nonexistent. So how on Earth was he meant to get back home? It wasn't as if an opportunity would just go ahead and present itself-

"Adrien?" Her voice was faint, almost lost to the world. Yet his time as Chat Noir (at least he thought he was - his memories of what was real and fake were still kind of fuzzy) had helped improve his hearing.

His Mother was calling him.

She approached him steadily, eyes glistening as if they had previously been lined with tears.

"Mum?" He whispered, words unsure. "Is that you?"

"Yes sweetheart it's me," She spoke softly to him, coaxing him to approach her. Voice sickeningly sweet. Maybe too sweet? Yet, without really thinking about it, Adrien complied, taking a few steps forward.

"We're worried about you, your Dad and I. Please come back,"

"Come back to us, _Mon Chaton,_ " Adrien faltered, bringing his shaking hand back down to his side.

 _Mon Chaton._

 _Come back to us._

Her words echoed throughout his brain, but not with her Mum's voice. The pitch was higher, as if the words were being spoken by another teenager around his age.

He knew that voice.

He just couldn't forget that voice!

He loved and cared for that voice! He just couldn't forget her!

She was the one who called him that every day.

She was his Lady!

 _…_ _My Lady._

Adrien staggered back a few paces in shock, much to the confusion of the woman before him. "Adrien? My little Chaton?" Her tentative voice repeated.

The boy's eyes narrowed somewhat as he clenched his fists. His posture straightened into one far more defensive.

"No," His words were surprisingly cold, void of any emotion. "No I'm not."

"Pardon?" Emilie took a small step towards him.

"I'm not your little Chaton," His voice rose slightly as he went on. "That nickname can be used by Ladybug and my _real_ Mum only."

"Adrien? Your scaring me… I don't quite understand."

"I think you do, don't you? This… all of this," We waved his hands out to gesture to the space around them. "None of it is real. It's all a dream. A perfect reality for me."

"But…"

"No brain games, whoever you are. I've got you all figured out," He quirked his lips in a movement that lasted all but three seconds.

"Okay _fine,"_ Emilie (or whoever this woman was) snarled, an action which took Adrien aback. He hadn't expected her to outright drop her sweet attitude so suddenly. Her smile had dissipated, leaving a raging woman in her place. Something which seriously didn't look right on his Mum.

"But do you really just want to leave here? It's _perfect_ ," Her words oozed with venom. "Your Father loves you here. He appreciates you. Your Mum is alive, you get to spend time with your friends, you are free without having to have an alter ego to feel that way. The city is safe! …And you even have yourself a girlfriend." She chuckled dryly at the last part. A sound similar to the scraping of sandpaper. "Do you really want all of this to go away?"

Adrien's head twitched a tad, before he set his gaze on her. "Okay, so I know my life is far from perfect, but it's real. It's way better than this lie," He hesitated a moment, measuring his next choice of words carefully. "Besides, my Father does love me in his own way. I still have amazing friends… and I have Ladybug."

"Hmm, I guess so. But tell me, how are you planning on getting back?"

Her words were a cold shock to him, presenting him with a bitter reality.

How _was_ he meant to get home?

 _Hmm…_

"Well… this is my dream isn't it?"

"Well done on stating the obvious, boy."

Adrien indubitably ignored her.

"So… If it's mine, then I should be able to gain control of it. It's all in here," He gave the side of his head a small tap.

"I just need to focus," He borrowed his brow and squeezed his eyes shut, mind in deep concentration of all of the positive things he loved about his life. Of all of the things he wanted to get back to. He thought of how Nino would smile when he wanted to listen to his beats, he thought of how Alya would enthusiastically show him images from her blog (her _real_ one: the LadyBlog), how Marinette's eyes would twinkle when she worked on her sewing, how free and uplifted he felt as Chat and…

… The smirk of Ladybug as she formulated another wild yet ingenious plan.

"Urgh, just tap your shoes together or something," The woman voiced her complaints. "What you're doing right now is both _cheesy_ and frustrating to look at."

"As if recreating a scene from the ' _Wizard of Oz_ ' wouldn't be cheesy on its own," He spoke underneath his breath, trying to keep his concentration.

 _Portal, portal, I need a portal. Something to help me get home-_

A quick blast of air in his face knocked him back, forcing his eyes back open to regain his balance. In front of him now stood a large vortex of luminous, white light, seemingly leading him into an empty abyss.

"Woah," He breathed, staring at the spectacle before him. "I guess this is my ticket home."

Emilie harrumphed at that. "Seems overkill if you ask me."

Adrien flicked his head back towards her, only just now remembering her presence. "You don't seem to be trying to stop me from leaving."

"There's nothing I can really do to stop you. You weren't willing to listen take me up upon the offer."

"You're just going to let me go? No epic battle required?" _Seemed a little easy._

"That's what I just said. And eh, it's your life… You're the one missing out on all of this," Her hand swept the surroundings. The endless shining sun, the beautiful buildings, the distant laughter that could be heard.

Squaring his shoulders, Adrien took a firm step into the portal, its very existence beckoning him to enter. But not before he looked back on the scene at his Mum, allowing a small tear to leak down his cheek. "Bye Mum," He murmured, before jumping into the unknown.

Then all there was was white.

A blinding white.

* * *

Adrien flung open his eyes and quickly sat up, mind still in a daze.

 _Had he done it?_

 _Was he home?_

The teenager reached up to his face, fingers brushing across the area around his eyes. A _mask_. He was wearing a mask again. And ears, and a tail and spandex and, and-

"Chat Noir!" A girl called from somewhere to his left, voice tinged with a hint of disbelief. Wait, was that-

"My Lady?" He groaned, blinking his eyes slowly in attempt to see clearly. A girl in spotted spandex sat on the ground next to him, face red as if she had been crying.

"I thought you were dead," Ladybug sobbed, wiping her face with a hand to remove any excess tears. "You just ran into of that blast and I-"

 _Oh yes, now he remembered._

 _They had been fighting an Akuma. Black Mercy._

 _Apparently, she was sick of living such an awful life (so she had said). Therefore, Hawkmoth had found her and decided that she would be an ideal Akuma for him to get their Miraculouses._

 _She nearly had been._

 _The duo had been unsure on what the girl's powers were as she had been yet to attack civilians with them. But then, out of the blue, she had sent out a blast towards Ladybug. And Chat being chat… well, he'd done the only thing he could do._

 _Intercepted the beam, by using his own body as a shield._

"I had already cleansed the Akuma… but you didn't come back. So I thought… I thought I had lost you Chat," She finished the last sentence rather quietly, voice only audible to him due to his cat-like hearing.

"Hey," He said calmly, as she looked back up at him. "I'm okay now My Lady. Everything's fine," After a slight moments pause, the boy wrapped his arms around her body in a tight hug, hoping that she wouldn't brush him off. "I'm alright now."

He felt Ladybug's arms encircle his back as she buried her head in his chest. "Thank you for coming back Chaton," Came her muffled reply.

Adrien gave off a consent sigh as he gathered through his thoughts.

He was home and - although things weren't the best - it wasn't a lie. He had his Lady back. He had his _real_ friends back. Nino, Chloe, Alya and-

 _Marinette._

Chat stiffened slightly at the mention of her name, eyes bulging widely.

Oh.

Mon.

Dieu.

HOW IN THE WORLD WAS HE MEANT TO LOOK MARINETTE IN THE EYE THE NEXT DAY?!

.

.

.

The two superheroes, still so very content and happy to stay in their own bubble (although Adrien was having an internal crisis), failed to notice a blonde individual just across the park from them who had been stood against a tree. His steely grey eyes had been onlooking the whole ordeal.

* * *

 **AN: Well that's it finished! My first multiple chaptered fic which I actually managed to finish XD Hoping I didn't make the characters way too ooc.**

 **…** **Or the ending way too anticlimactic.**

 **This fic is also set sometime in the future where he knows where Master Fu's place is.**

 **And if you're wondering who this stranger is, he's meant to be Felix (this will later be revealed in my next fic which is basically his pov of all of this).**


End file.
